Burda 7767 Archives - Page 4 of 6

Sam’s shirt

02/01/2011 2:50 am \ 10 Comments \ Carolyn

This is the shirt I made for our youngest for a Christmas present. The funny thing about making this shirt was that I cut it out and made it up with absolutely no attempt at secrecy whatsoever, and it was still a surprise to him when he opened up his present! Luckily a happy surprise… Yah, Sam is not particularly observant of or interested in my sewing projects, but will sometimes grudgingly give approval or advice when pressed.
This shirt is just the thing for his style. Sort of conservative, but with the youthful twist. He currently likes to look a tiny bit cool, but not really. Sorta hip while still wanting some invisibility. Just… well, a teenager.
The fabric is cotton check, a bit scrunchy and randomly creased like Tim’s, but is not stretchy and was correspondingly a lot easier to work with. In fact I love this fabric.
I used the old faithful Burda 7767, with the following modifications; the addition of two bias cut breast pockets with shaped bias cut flaps, shorter sleeves, added sleeve tabs and shoulder tabs, a longer curved hemline, and the use of silver snaps in lieu of buttons throughout. I also later added an iron motif, like I did for Tim’s shirt, but this isn’t in the photo I took on Christmas Day here, because … oh, kind of long story. Basically when we were in Spotlight choosing Tim’s motif (Tim was still away working) I asked Sam which one he liked the best. He promptly and without hesitation chose a square motif with a sailing ship, which was quite cute but I also knew would not look cool on the shirt I was making. I felt the rearing lion one would look really good. So I secretly bought this one as well, and slipped them both in the pocket of the shirt when I wrapped it for Sam to decide. And then he chose the rearing lion too… so I put the rearing lion on and we still have the sailing ship for some other shirt down the track…
This motif is from the same horoscope collection as Tim’s raging bull; similarly Sam is no more a Leo than Tim is a Taurus… but look at us, defying the system…
I’m a Libra, but I’ve always felt a bit gypped at the mundanity of being represented by an inanimate object; a pair of scales, for heavens’ sake. The other signs get all this cool stuff like bulls, scorpions, entwining fish and other interesting and/or virile animals, or cool centaurs, beautiful girls, water bearing maidens… the stuff of myth and legend; romantic fables of old. Scales. I ask you… What’s more, I’ve just looked up Libra and, well thank you Wikipedia, found it described as “fairly faint, with no first magnitude stars”. Just couldn’t sound more lame… as if we weren’t struggling with the whole stigma of a kitchen-device-as-our-mascot already…
Excuse my rambling, hehe. I’m going to go and chill out with some fabric now.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, Fabulous fabrics, mens shirt, Sam

Tim’s shirt

29/12/2010 1:25 am \ 13 Comments \ Carolyn

This is a shirt I made for our eldest son for a Christmas present. I didn’t need to be secret working on this one, as he was working up in Kalgoorlie up until only a few days before Christmas.
I’m glad he got a job where he is earning some good money but I did really miss him… oh dear, empty nest syndrome coming on already? sad… 🙁
Anyway, we are making the most of him being home now. And he has probably at least another year of Uni at home.
This fabric was a bit of a *&%# to work with. Excuse my French. I’ve had it for about a year, toyed with various projects in my mind, possibly a shirt for Craig, draping it over Bessie to get inspired for something for me etc. and finally came to terms with the fact Tim was the best one in the house to carry off this “deconstructed businessman” fabric. The fabric is heat set into random crazy creases, and is slightly stretchy, thus the %$#@ factor, have you ever tried fine precision tailoring with stretchy or pre-creased fabric?? And I like for mens’ shirts to be well tailored… well, I just had to accept the quirks of this fabric and go with it as best I could. I think I wrestled it into some sort of submission with minimal meltdown on my own behalf. Anyhow I’m very happy with how it finally turned out. And most importantly Tim likes it too. He wore it on Christmas Day, and has worn it out to two other parties with his friends since, so must do!
The pattern is Burda 7767 again, this time made up pretty much as is but with narrower sleeve cuffs, the addition of two breast pockets with asymmetrical flaps, a long curved hem and the use of navy blue snaps in lieu of buttons.
I also added this iron-on “raging bull” motif. Hehe, this is kind of funny because there is no one less like a raging bull than Tim… It is actually one of a series of horoscope signs, and Tim is not even a Taurus, but meh… I liked the colours of this motif against the colours of the shirt, and I thought it needed a little extra something to make it less formal and wicked enough for a young bloke.

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767, pattern review here, cotton with probably a spot of spandex for stretch?

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, Fabulous fabrics, mens shirt, Tim

Lichen shot-cotton shirt

28/12/2010 2:45 am \ 10 Comments \ Carolyn

This is a shirt I made for Craig for his Christmas present, cut out and made up in lots of super secret cloak-and-dagger sewing sessions… although he did help choose the fabric a year ago, so perhaps he might have had some inkling…
But he was nice enough to act satisfyingly surprised and delighted when he opened his present.
The fabric is Kaffe Fasset shot cotton, bought online from purlsoho.com, only the second time I’ve bought fabric in this way. Usually I prefer to feel the fabric myself with my own two hands to weigh up its suitability to the project I have in mind before purchasing. Actually “prefer” is too soft a word; I consider this a non-negotiable essential rule for buying fabric… But I’m familiar with Kaffe Fasset cotton, having come across it before in a local shop (Calico and Ivy), so I knew it would be a good choice for lightweight summer mens’ shirts.
This fabric is a dream to work with, and as the word “shot” implies, has a bright cobalt blue warp combined with an intense acidic yellow weft, to give the fabric this deceptively subdued mossy green hue. I chose thread exactly matched to the yellow of the weft, for all the topstitching.
Same old same old Burda 7767 again, with his custom fitting modifications, plus two breast pockets with shaped flaps and a longer curved hem. Well, with the shorter sleeves as well obviously, and also I added a little decorative button detail to the sleeve hems for fun.

Very easy; here is a quick how-to…
Before sewing the sleeve and side seams, measure the desired length of sleeve from the top of the sleeve cap and mark with a pin

Turn back the seam allowance, right sides together and mark centre point. Also mark with pins points 1cm each side of centre point, and 1cm into the seam allowance, creating a little right-angled triangle on the sleeve edge.

Sew along the two short sides of this little triangle, trim and clip into the corners.

Turn the seam allowance to the inside of the sleeve, wrong sides together and press.

Now sew the sleeve and side seams as usual…

and turn up, press and sew the sleeve hem allowance as normal. I topstitched along the hem edge to help hold those little peaks in place.

And finally, sewed some smaller (4mm) buttons on the peaks. A side note; it took me ages to find the two different sized but matching buttons for this shirt… got these from Fabulous Fabrics. I used these smaller buttons for the collar button-down too. (Is there a correct term for that?)

Cute, no? I think this would look even cuter with an acute angle… haha.

See, I made a little joke.

Hmmm.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, Craig, mens shirt, tutorial

Flat out

18/12/2010 2:07 pm \ 9 Comments \ Carolyn

Ahhh, delightful albeit exhausting day…
Up early for a long walk with my good friend S; but on a low note, I was saying goodbye to her as she is heading back home to NZ. I’m very sad to see her go. She’s a delightful lady; great company, sweet, intelligent and funny, and been a really good friend to me. She’s a rare lady; a Kiwi who actually likes Australia, and says so. That’s refreshing.

I can’t wait to plan my next visit to see her.

Later a mammoth shopping excursion for a Christmas do we’re hosting tomorrow…

And even later; well, my favourite shop, Fabulous Fabrics has been having a huge sale, and, yes I had to pay them a visit. But it’s OK. Really. You see, I’ve been buying my family’s Christmas presents, from them to me. It makes sense. You see, nobody ever knows what I would like, although I don’t get what is the mystery as I can think of, like, a zillion things, hehe… but, long and short, my family will be wrapping up lengths of fabric, zips, lining and interfacing to put under the Christmas tree… it sounds a loopy thing but really it makes it all so much easier for everyone, and with the 20% off prices, it is sensible to be buying it now, rather than next year… So thankyou, my loved ones., for lavishing me with an oh so generous stash injection; all in my favourite colours, perfectly co-ordinating with my current wardrobe, filling in some gaps… Oh my, so thoughtful…

One needs to express a least a smidgeon of delighted reaction upon opening one’s own presents to oneself… otherwise it just doesn’t work right. This is an important component of self-gift-giving.

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767 with minor design modifications here, cotton/linen chambray
Skirt; modified Vogue 7303, olive corduroy
Scarf; refashioned from old Tshirt, here
Sandals; Vincenzo, from Soletta shoes
Sunnies; RayBan
Bag; Gucci

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, mens shirt, own design, scarf, skirt, Vogue 7303

Burda 7767; a pattern review

04/12/2010 2:22 am \ 18 Comments \ Carolyn

Yesterday I surprised myself when I tried to create a link to the review I wrote for this pattern and found out it wasn’t even here!! I wrote this for Pattern Review; oh, months ago, and …er, forgot? to put it here on my blog too. I’ve updated the review here only slightly, to take into account the fact I’ve used it an extra five times since writing this review, and to note some of the variations.
I decided today to wear one of the earliest versions of this pattern I made for Craig; as an overshirt, folded over at the front asymmetrically and belted like a sort of coat. Please note my fabulous salon-styled do; this kind of glamourous hair doesn’t appear here often…

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767, burgundy linen
Dress; Burda 8511 with fitting, neckline and zip placement variations, brown wool mix. oh, and fully lined too…
Belt; kept from a pair of old cargos
Socks; knitted by me
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti

So without further ado, here is the review:

Pattern Description:

Men’s dress shirt, one version with front pintucking option, the other plain fronted and with four collar variations

Pattern Sizing:

European 44 (US 34) to European 60 (US 50)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

I’ve only sewed version B without pintucking, but yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?

very easy

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I liked everything about this pattern, nothing to dislike. It’s a basic men’s shirt!

Fabric Used:

Linen

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

The first time I made this pattern up it was for a birthday present for my husband and I had to make it in secrecy with no fittings! Luckily it fitted fine, however the subsequent times I’ve used it I fine-tuned the fitting to accommodate my husband’s measurements perfectly. Namely by deepening the armholes and correspondingly widening the sleeve at the underarm point. Obviously this wasn’t the pattern’s fault, that I couldn’t perform progress fittings, however!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes, I’ve sewn this up eight times now; for my husband, our two sons and even for me, and plan to use it many times over again in the future. Would highly recommend to others as a simple basic shirt pattern.

Conclusion:

What’s not to like about this pattern? Men’s shirting needs are often simple and uncomplicated and this pattern serves the purpose exceptionally well. Being such a basic pattern means you can add your own variations such as pocket flaps, welt pockets and fancy topstitching variations as much as you wish. You could also shorten the sleeves to make a summer button-up shirt too. The times I’ve used this pattern I’ve varied the pocket slightly each time, and played around with contrasting topstitching details. It’s a simple matter to lengthen the body pieces to create a curved lower hemline if this is desired also. An advanced seamstress could also play around with varying the yoke.

For the versions for my teenage sons I added tabs inside the sleeves that button back on themselves on the outside of the sleeves to hold up the sleeves when rolled up; I also used press studs in lieu of buttons; sewed on two breast pockets with flaps and angled the pocket flaps and cuffs to give a funkier look to suit a teenager’s tastes. This is only one variation of many one could try out with this great pattern.

Later edit; looking at the other reviews of this pattern I was reminded that the yoke pattern piece had “cut 1” printed on it by mistake instead of “cut 2”. I think this is a simple typo, and not really a problem as the pattern instructions clearly require for there to be two yoke pieces cut, and the pattern cutting layout also illustrates two yoke pieces laid out.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, Burda 8511, dress, mens shirt, pattern review

The B1,B2 shirt

03/12/2010 5:41 am \ 23 Comments \ Carolyn

Hehe, I realise only Aussies are going to get that reference. My daughter suggested the name at first sight, and the similarities had up until that moment escaped me. But mean wife that I am, I informed my husband that he still has to wear his new shirt, nonetheless…
To explain; Bananas in Pyjamas is a favourite Australian children’s television show, starring (of course) B1 and B2. My kids all adored this show as littlies…
As the Bananas are always “coming down the stairs” I just had to make my husband come down the stairs for this photo…!

Prior to my daughter’s brilliant observations, I was pretty pleased with this latest addition to my husband’s wardrobe. Oh, OK, I still am pretty pleased… particularly with the buttonholes. They are on the diagonal!! Cool, no? I had seen a shirt in a very expensive menswear store with diagonally placed buttonholes, and decided they looked pretty interesting; a tiny little twist on an otherwise standard shirt, so I decided to incorporate this feature in the shirt. And I do like to experiment with different effects, even in something as basic and potentially unexciting to the home seamstress as a men’s casual shirt.
To draw attention to this feature I also placed the buttonholes in pairs, and used bright contrasting buttons. Well, they deserve to be noticed, right?! My husband had put in his boring request for white or navy buttons, but has conceded now that the yellow buttons are a bit more fun and casual. And definitely more interesting.
I had also used contrasting fabric for the collar and cuff lining, a feature I’d seen on other shirts in the same expensive store, and had decided the yellow buttons were sort of necessary to tie in somehow with the yellow fabric I’d used here. I just felt the shirt needed a little zing to it, as the fabric was so… conventional. I had bought the striped fabric about a year ago always with the intention of making a men’s shirt, but had not got around to it. I think now I just felt uninspired with the prospect of a kinda blah end result, but with the slightly off-kilter extra details I’m now very happy with it and don’t feel it is at all boring!
And yes, my husband likes it too!

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767 with the usual custom fittings, navy and white striped cotton

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, Craig, Fabulous fabrics, mens shirt

A burdensome expectation…

11/11/2010 7:03 am \ 16 Comments \ Carolyn

Since I stopped buying any new readymade clothes I am finding it easier and easier to dress completely self-stitched on a regular basis, as some of my older store-bought clothes are starting to bite the dust. I’ve always found it difficult to throw out store-bought clothes. Ironically, a garment I’ve made myself is far easier for me to toss out, because I can see all its faults and my inner perfectionist will judge it harshly for not exactly fitting my vision at the time of making it. I look at some old thing I made years ago and see how tacky and “homemade” it looks (all seamstresses know the vast vast difference between the “handmade” and “homemade” look, I don’t need to go into that now, do I?) whereas a garment I’ve bought readymade I just accept happily for what it is.

Now on a similar train-of-thought, and I’d like to know if any other self-seamstresses ever get this too… since I’m known for making my own clothes I’m often queried by people as to whether or not I’ve made what I am wearing that day… and if on occasion I have to respond, “oh, not this, I actually bought this”; I’m not kidding, people will go, “oh”, all disappointed, and change the subject, moving right along, and seriously, I feel like I’m letting people down. I feel like a failure, because I’m wearing something I didn’t make… oh dear, just not up to scratch today, hmmm? … Is this ridiculous or what?!

Now tell me whether I’m alone here, or am I being too sensitive? Does anyone else get this reaction from others when they wear store-bought clothes?

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767, first seen here (borrowed from my son, he’s OK with it) turquoise striped cotton
Skirt; Vogue 7303, ivory wool blend
Coat; my own adaption of Burda 7786, beige cotton
Belt; had since teenager years
Booties; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, Burda 7786, coat, mens shirt, random life stuff, skirt, Vogue 7303

Domestic diva VII

23/09/2010 5:21 am \ 10 Comments \ Carolyn

Went on a recky (translation; Aussie slang for reconnaissance mission) through the husband’s side of the wardrobe for this morning’s outfit. Oh, btw, that’s just the shirt here, not the skirt hehe, in case you were wondering…

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767, blue linen, seen first here
Skirt; Vogue 7303, green cotton velveteen, see first here
Socks; handknit by me, using Patonyles sock yarn, seen first here
Belt, kept from some old cargos that have long gone
Hat; Barmah, leather stockman’s hat
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti

Re yesterday’s post: my husband reckons I was far too mysterious and should not have told just half a story. I can see now he was right and I wasn’t fair. Talking about private stuff makes me uncomfortable, but I appreciate that many of you are now like my pen-pals and we are interested in each other’s lives and not just visiting each other for the sewing and fashion so I should try to open up more…

A friend lost her son to cancer. He was 24. He had been ill such a short while, so while the end was not unexpected it was still too shocking. Of course would always be too shocking, no matter how much time you have to prepare, of course. I saw her and the family yesterday and they were just amazing. So loving and so positive. My friend C makes me want to be a better person.
That’s all. Just go and hug your children. I am.